Spring has sprung and that means flowers abound. Grab your camera and take your photography to the next level, using these amazing images as a creative spark.

With spring in full bloom, it's a great time of year to brush up on your camera skills and capture the beauty of fresh flowers. Whether you're strolling through your own garden, enjoying a hike among wildflowers, or picking out favorites from a local flower shop to bring home, there are lots of ways to capture the beauty of flowers. These macro photos will inspire you to get up close, try new, creative compositions, and have fun with the art found in nature.

Strategies to try out:

1. Using a mister, spray flowers with water to get the dew-drop effect. You can make it look like morning dew, or capture reflections and refractions in the water droplets.

2. Go for dramatic light. Place a flower near a window for strong light from the side, providing contrasting light and shadows. Or try to capture back-lighting for silhouettes or the glow of light through petals.

3. Use a shallow depth of field to isolate just one part of the flower, such as the pollen-filled center or the unusual curl of a single petal.

4. Frame your shot so just one interesting part of the flower is shown, creating an abstract look.

5. Look for patterns or textures to photograph. It may be anything from the way petals are overlapping, to the perfect geometry of a spiraling succulent to the textures of tangled seed pods.

6. Try both natural and artificial surfaces and backgrounds for flowers. Capture flowers where they grow, in a field or garden, or bring flowers inside to place on glass or a reflective surface. The different backgrounds will inspire you to try new ideas for compositions.